Help for planning a family reunion

03-12-2006

Judging by the volume of hotels, resorts, cruise lines and other entities promoting their services to help small groups of people come together, it's easy to understand why reunions are one of the fastest growing segments of the travel business.

With all the groups of far-flung families, university classes, military units and sport teams, to name a few of the types of groups reconvening somewhere, reunion travel is booming.

The subject of reunions is bringing an estimated 250 to 300 people together next weekend at Pittsburgh's Marriott City Center, Uptown, for the 15th annual conference of the Family Reunion Institute of Temple University's School of Social Administration. Although local residents can attend, most participants will be coming from out of town, some from as far away as Los Angeles.

Founded in 1990 under the guidance of Dr. Ione D. Vargus, Temple's academic dean, the institute claims to be the only one of its kind in the United States dedicated to helping extended families plan reunions. In addition to its annual conferences, the institute provides speakers to family reunions, churches and other groups.

It also serves as a vehicle for empowering and strengthening families.

The institute's past conferences also have included such subjects as tracing genealogy, family empowerment, healing family conflicts, health and genetic counseling and family philanthropy.

The conference will begin on Thursday evening with two workshops that focus on preserving family memories, the making of quilts and scrapbooks. On Friday morning, interested participants can take a 2 1/2-hour tour of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. A revolving schedule of workshops on Friday and Saturday afternoons will provide insights and instruction on the early organization of a family or group to planning the reunion, making use of the Internet and endowing scholarships for future generations.

On Sunday afternoon, keynote speaker Barbara Landis will discuss "Linking Broken Threads." Organizer of several reunions of former students of the Carlisle Indian School in Cumberland County, she will share recollections of the planning these events involved.

This is the Institute's first conference in Pittsburgh. The fee for both days is $175 per adult, $125 for students and seniors, which includes continental breakfast and lunch. Single-day participation is $100. Advance registration is encouraged, but participants can sign up at the door.

If you can't make it this weekend, next year's conference will be in Philadelphia, and then back it Pittsburgh in 2008, just in time for the city's 250th birthday celebrations.

For details, visit the Institute's Web site at www.temple.edu/fri. Or call Barbara Hollie at the Greater Pittsburgh Convention and Visitors Bureau at 412-281-0482, ext. 3165.

More on oxygen in the air

Last Sunday's column on the difficulties faced by air travelers who require supplemental oxygen brought positive responses from a number of readers confirming the issues and information. Karla Kuberek, who recently moved to Robinson from Florida, reported renting an Inogen One Oxygen concentrator to enable her half brother Robert to make the trip. It worked like a dream. Discount Mobility, which supplied the equipment ($395 for the first week and $295 each week thereafter) will deliver units anywhere. For details: www.discountmobilityusa.com or 1-800-308-2503.

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